REGENTS REPORT

South Dakota Higher Education: Good Investment. Great Future. NO. 70, 04/18/97

High School Feedback

How Graduates Are Performing at the State Universities

An important factor affecting the quality of programs and the level of performance in the public university system is student preparedness for college-level work. The Board of Regents, working with the Department of Education and Cultural Affairs, has developed the High School Feedback Report which provides information to South Dakota's high schools on the performance of their students at the state's public universities. The objectives are to decrease the number of students under-prepared for college, increase the number of students who are prepared to take full advantage of the academic opportunities offered by the universities, and to offer students the greatest access possible to advanced placement opportunities while they are in high school. This month the Board of Regents released the second High School Feedback Report.

REMEDIAL EDUCATION AND STUDENT SUCCESS

Remedial courses are designed to compensate for deficiencies in student preparation for collegiate study and help students succeed in their program of study. However, they do not apply towards completion of a degree. Courses that do apply towards a degree program are called degree credit courses.

Some high schools offer College Board Advanced Placement (CBAP) courses to students who can then take an exam for credit at a university. Students who take these courses are well prepared for college; their average grade point averages were 3.38 after the first year. Students enrolled in at least one remedial course had a 2.38 GPA, and students enrolled in degree credit courses had on average a 2.72 GPA after the first year. Students enrolled in at least one remedial course accounted for less than 9% of the total entering freshmen in Fall 1995.

High School Graduates Entering Public Universities: Fall 1995

Remedial and Degree Credit Comparison

SOURCE: Board of Regents, 1996 High School Feedback Report

FRESHMEN IN REMEDIAL COURSES

The unduplicated total students in remedial English and mathematics courses increased 0.8%. The report shows that 4% of Fall 1995 university freshmen were enrolled in remedial English, and that 5.9% of them were enrolled in remedial mathematics.

1994-95 Comparison of Remedial Course Enrollments

SOURCE: Board of Regents, 1995 and 1996 High School Feedback Report

STUDENT PREPAREDNESS

Feedback data for the Fall 1995 semester show that 78 South Dakota high schools (42%) had no students in the state university system taking remedial course-work. In fact, nearly two-thirds of the state's high schools (114) had less than 10% of their students in the university system receiving some type of remedial assistance.

Percentage of Students Enrolled in Remedial Course by Number of High Schools

1994-1995 Comparison

SOURCE: Board of Regents, 1996 High School Feedback Report

CONCLUSION

The universities will continue to collaborate with high schools to improve student readiness. These partnerships fit well with Governor Janklow's task force on "seamless education" to improve the relationships among all levels of education in order to provide the best service to students.